Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Julian Assange Wanted Advice From Daniel Ellsberg

By Jerry Smith Mar 29 2011
assangewatch.blogspot.com

In an extract from Australian journalist Andrew Fowler's upcoming book about Julian Assange titled ‘The Most Dangerous Man in the World’, Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg reveals how Assange came to him for advice and how Assange wanted him to be apart of WikiLeaks' "political armor".
The Pentagon Papers, released by Ellsberg in 1971, exposed a top-secret Pentagon study about the US governments decision-making concerning the Vietnam War, and the Pentagons view that the Vietnam War was unwinnable.

Ellsberg reveals that in 2006, after he wrote in Harper's Magazine that he hoped someone would leak information about the U.S. government's war plans in order to stop an invasion, he received a coded email from WikiLeaks asking for his help.

Ellsberg recalls that the message said that WikiLeaks had been following his comments on leaking with "interest and delight" and that the message contained Assange's trademark rhetorical flourishes.

Assange, having always admired Ellsberg, told him that the WikiLeaks team needed his advice to help plan and protect their operation. Assange said:

"We'd like you to form part of our political armour. The more armour we have, particularly in the form of men and women sanctified by age, history and class, the more we can act like brazen young men and get away with it."

Ellsberg also said that he was initially very suspicious that the whole WikiLeaks plan might be a sting operation set up to trap and expose whistleblowers so that they can be "hoovered up".

Ellsberg recently attended a war protest at the white house where he was arrested, and attended a rally to protest the treatment of U.S soldier Bradley Manning, where he was arrested again.

Manning is accused of leaking the embarrassing diplomatic cables, the classified documents about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and the 'Collateral Murder' video to WikiLeaks.

He is being held in solitary confinement 23 hours a day in a windowless 6-by-12-foot cell, shackled and forced to sleep either naked or in a suicide-proof smock due to supposed fears that he may commit suicide.

Manning is currently facing 24 charges, but one of the more serious charges against him is 'aiding the enemy'. If found guilty of 'aiding the enemy', Manning could spend the rest of his life behind bars or get the death penalty.

There is also a movie being made based on Fowler's book titled 'WikiLeaks: The Movie'. It is being produced by Barry Josephson and Michelle Krumm, who describe the movie as:

“a suspenseful drama thriller."

Lawyers for Assange have filed an appeal against Judge Howard Riddle's ruling that Assange, who is still under house arrest at Ellingham Hall in Norfolk,UK, should be extradited to Sweden because he felt that Assange could get a fair trial in Sweden and that his extradition to Sweden would not violate his human rights.

Assange has been fighting extradition to Sweden where he has not been charged with anything but is wanted for questioning by the Swedish police about accusations of rape and sexual molestation made against him by Sofia Wilen and Anna Ardin. Assange denies the allegations and says he had consensual sex with the two women.

Assange and his lawyers fear that if he is extradited to Sweden he may then be extradited to the United States, where he could face torture, confinement at Guantanamo Bay, both, or even the death penalty.

Assange angered the United States when WikiLeaks published the leaked cables, classified war documents and the 'Collateral Murder' video the U.S. government accuses Manning of giving to WikiLeaks.